Indians Prospect Insider

This weekly feature piece here at the IBI specifically looks at some of the prospects that have maybe not had as much attention they deserve for a variety of reasons but who are interesting or are coming onto the scene. This week the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at right-handed reliever Trevor Frank, a backend arm who has had a lot of success early in his pro career and a key member of the Low-A Lake County pitching staff this season. What kind of prospect is he? What does he throw? What kind of future does he have? Tony provides all the details...

Only one game truly mattered this past week and the Lake County Captains made it count. On Wednesday, the team sealed the first of a three-game series against the South Bend Silver Hawks to gain an edge in the first round of the Midwest League playoffs. The IBI's Stephanie Metzger recaps what happened over the final week of the Captains’ regular season and the first game of the playoffs.

It would have been a disaster if the Indians were swept in this series. They would have been behind as much as seven games in the Wild Card race, which would have put the playoffs almost entirely out of reach. Winning at least one game was an absolute necessity, and now the Indians have done just that thanks to the arm of Danny Salazar and a surge offensively. The IBI's Michael Goodman provides his second thoughts on the big win for the Indians...

The playoffs started Wednesday night for the Columbus Clippers, Akron RubberDucks, and Lake County Captains, with two of the three teams ending the night with a win. Though it was obviously more than a one-person effort, the Clippers and Captains used big nights from an outfielder to find victory (James Ramsey and Clint Frazier, respectively), while Duke von Schamann did his best for the RubberDucks in a loss. Join Jim Piascik as he recaps all of the playoff action and takes you Around the Farm.

Danny Salazar was the headliner of the night with his dominant performance against the Tigers on Wednesday at Progressive Field. The IBI's Jay Frierson recaps the news and notes from Wednesday and notes a new contract for Rockies lefty Jorge De La Rosa, some injury notes around the league and more.

Six weeks ago Danny Salazar was wearing a Columbus Clippers uniform, pitching in Triple-A after a disappointing first two months of the season in the big leagues. He's since returned to the majors and hasn't missed a beat. Wednesday night against Detroit proved to be the right-hander's best start yet, hurling his first complete game shutout to help the Indians blank their division rivals, 7-0. Join IBI Tribe beat reporter Jim Berdysz as he recaps the win from the ballpark.

An 11th inning RBI double by Richmond’s Angel Villalona proved to be the difference-maker in Akron’s playoff opener at Canal Park Wednesday night as the Flying Squirrels captured a 3-2 win over the RubberDucks.

The Lake County Captains (1-0) pounded out 14 hits in the series opener and got a stellar start from Mitch Brown to take a 1-0 lead in the Midwest League Eastern Division Semifinals over the South Bend Silver Hawks (0-1), 6-2.

Over the course of the past few weeks the IBI's Tony Lastoria has been posting draft pieces like this on all of the players that the Indians drafted and signed from the 2014 Draft. The Indians signed 30 players in total and I have comments and details on each and every player from Indians Amateur Scouting Director Brad Grant. In today's final piece Tony provides insight, details and comments from Grant on Sam Hentges, Greg Allen, Cameron Hill, Taylor Murphy and Juan Gomes.

Wednesday night, the Akron RubberDucks will welcome in the Richmond Flying Squirrels to Canal Park to open up a best of five playoff series that will determine who will be crowned the EL Western division champions and who will advance to the Eastern League Championship series. The IBI's Spencer Davies discusses the Game 1 EL Western Division matchup between the Akron RubberDucks and the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

The Carolina Mudcats third season as the Advanced-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians came to an end on Monday. Finishing at 33-36 in the second half and 62-74 overall, the Mudcats failed to make the playoffs in the Carolina League. There were several surprises throughout the season on the field. Some players were better than expected, some were not as good as expected, and others put on performances words almost cannot describe. Here is the IBI's Zachary Francis' take on the stars of the year...

A few months back the IBI's Jeff Ellis brought up what was then a more controversial view that the Indians should strongly look to trade Lonnie Chisenhall. At the time Chisenhall still looked like a breakout candidate and was not that far removed from being a potential all-star, but he held by the numbers which showed he was in for a massive regression, which we are seeing now. He looks into why the Indians should consider trading him and what they do with his spot in the lineup.

Outfielder David Murphy appears to be close to returning to action with the Indians in Cleveland but first will be tested in a minor league rehab assignment at Triple-A Columbus. The IBI's Tony Lastoria notes his plan of attack on his rehab assignment and provides all the other news around the MLB on the day.

Coming into 2014, J.D. Martinez hit a combined 18 home runs over the last two years with the Houston Astros. He's already slugged 19 this season now as a member of the Detroit Tigers. And his last homer Tuesday night was his biggest one yet. Trailing the Tribe by one in the ninth, the Tigers left fielder took closer Cody Allen deep for a three-run homer, helping Motown comeback to stun the Indians, 4-2.

Though there have been ups and downs this season, Cleveland's 70-65 record has them on the fringes of playoff contention and in the thick of things as the calendar turns to September. Despite some definite disappointments, there are still plenty of bright spots on the team this season. Join Jim Piascik as he once again ranks the major league roster as Cleveland heads into the stretch run.

The Clippers wrapped up the regular season on Monday and are preparing for a playoff run and chance at a third Triple-A National Championship, something that has never been done before. The IBI's Michael Rick recaps the week that was, notes all of the player moves and gets us set for the start of the playoffs in his latest notebook...

The minor league regular season officially came to a close on Monday and we officially say goodbye to High-A Carolina and Short-A Mahoning Valley until next season. We also say goodbye to the rookie level AZL Indians who capped off an impressive team and individual showing this season with a league championship on Monday. The IBI's Tony Lastoria recaps all of the action and gives special mention to every player that player in the Arizona League Championship game on Monday.

This game was about as ugly as they get. The team was coming off an outstanding series against the Royals, possibly the hottest team in the Majors in the month of August, so this game certainly came out of nowhere. The Indians have gone to the bullpen early over the last month very few times. This time it was Corey Kluber who failed to get through the third inning, as unbelievable as that is to say. The IBI's Michael Goodman shares his second thoughts on a disappointing start to a big series for the Indians...

The last time David Price took the mound at Progressive Field, he was spraying silly string on his teammates as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays in October. On Monday, he just made the Indians offense look silly. Scoring 12 runs on 20 hits, division rival Detroit routed the Tribe, 12-1 in the first game of a four-game series. Join IBI Indians beat reporter Jim Berdysz as he recaps the game from the ballpark.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!